Blockchain technology was built in part on a principle of high-level security, but it is increasingly clear that this is not always the case, as noted by a recent DARPA analysis noting how cryptocurrency tech is vulnerable to tampering. Under this backdrop, it is time for blockchain providers — which extend well beyond the realms of cryptocurrency and NFTs – to give their users the level of security they deserve and, in some cases, thought they already had. From a hacker’s perspective, crypto is proving to be a gold mine. The latest trend for hackers is targeting blockchain “bridges,” which are tools used to transfer tokens between blockchains. Through the first seven months of 2022 alone, more than $1 billion has been stolen from these blockchain bridges. In many cases, these breaches are a result of key mismanagement. When you give power to people, which blockchain does on the surface, it gives them a certain amount of freedom but it also comes with responsibility. Even if an organization’s security fundamentals are solid, for example, malicious actors can still perform user-level trickery and fool users into signing away things or giving up private keys. It is not so much that there are problems at the root of blockchain as a technology, it is just that it has created an environment where individuals who aren’t sophisticated when it comes to security find themselves in control of high-value things and become targets of sophisticated hackers.
Full opinion : It is Time for Blockchain to Embrace the Level of Security Its Users Deserve.
